The Aftermath

I had my final meeting yesterday! I am now what we like to call “Div free.” It’s a strange feeling, honestly, knowing that my undergraduate career is really over.

I got some really great advice and feedback from my committee yesterday. One of the recommendations given to me by my chair was to not give this project up – that it was great, and it has a lot of potential to improve. I tend to agree, and I have some ideas for how the show could potentially progress. Of course, the challenge there is finding folks with a similar vision, the necessary skills, and the time to commit. It’s a long-term project, certainly.

But you know what that means? This blog probably will continue to be a breeding ground for my ideas and inspiration! The project has seen it’s first full completion, but it’s far from being over. The subject matter here is too personal for me to give up on, and something I think about often enough that I would really need a place like this to get out all my thoughts.

I have also been given a new perspective on the kind of work I do. I have always, always identified as a studio arts concentrator, and not a theatre student. In fact, I have a very long-winded explanation of why I believe circus is separate from theatre, which I wrote in my retrospective. In the coming days, I will probably post that retrospective, along with other writing and photos, here. But it was brought to my attention that I went about creating a performance the way I would go about creating a studio arts piece; I came up with a concept, identified the materials I needed (in this case, that included the human factor), and set about my work. Along the way, the product didn’t always match the original concept or design, and I had to utilize my problem-solving abilities to deal with it, as I would if one of my sculptures fell apart, for instance.

So today, I’ve been kind of thinking about Ritorno in terms of its potential – what could I do with it without the restrictions that the Div III has imposed? If I had a longer deadline, more money, more people working on it, more acts, a larger venue. I’m interested in experimenting with it. Of course, it would certainly change because part of the charm of this production was the people working on it and, unfortunately, most of those people probably wouldn’t be able to continue helping me, as they will have their own projects to develop as time passes. I’d love to try and get as many of them as possible again, though.

And there’s also this great resource of the internet. People from all over the world can read this, and other things I post, and can give me feedback and tell me their interests or their thoughts. I can get a Kickstarter page going. What an awesome advantage it is to have this tool!

I don’t intend on doing this show again right away. I need time to breathe, time to pursue other interests (of which I have many). But the seed of possibility has been planted, and it’s only a matter of time before possibility becomes reality.

It’s a daunting project, but I already know that I can do it. I’m excited.